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Young puppies are cute, but a LOT of work. We got our second little one Pippin at 9 weeks, our rescue DJ at 3 1/2 years, but we got our first cavalier Gus at 20 weeks, he still had a lot of puppy traits that we could enjoy but was more robust than a very young puppy, and we contnue to enjoy him now although he will be 10 yrs old next week

I'll second what everyone is saying about the younger puppies being a lot of work. We just got our Sasha last week, when she was just over 14 weeks. She's extremely smart and has learned quickly (only ~2 accidents in one week, the first being on her 2nd day home) but I think that has really been due to our exhaustive (and exhausting!) attention and watchfulness. Between my wife and I, we've arranged to take off work / work from home for the first two weeks and be with her every second that she's out of her crate. After that we've had to make arrangements for my wife's parents to look after her, they just can't be at home alone all day, even at 20 weeks.

It is quite a bit of work, I couldn't possibly imagine doing this with young children to look after as well. Even if the breeder has said they're house/crate trained, you're going to have to do it all over at least for a little while while the puppy gets used to her new surroundings.

I don't have any experience with older puppies, but I really don't think you'd be missing that much as far as cuteness.. they're so adorable at this age, even with 5-6 weeks difference.

As others have said, I would meet them both if possible, and see which one you find more agreeable and compatible to your lifestyle / personality.

Definately the older pup will be easier work. We got Murphy at 11 weeks and even though that young stage is very cute it is alot of work, especially as I also have a 3 year old daughter which means the interactions have to be supervised all the time. Little kids just don't understand that they can hurt that very tiny pup when they try to pick them up. He is now 19 weeks and much more robust, pretty much toilet trained though you do have to keep an eye on him. He is still however very much a puppy just a little bigger. I agree with everyone else Cavaliers are puppies much longer and you should choose the pup that best suits the personality of those in your family.

I'm going to go against the grain here by saying that if my wife and I had to choose between bringing Skippy home as we did when he was 8 weeks old, vs 16-20 weeks of age, we would not hesitate to do it all over again. Yes, it was extremely tough and life-changing, especially during the first 3 days, but I'm glad we were there together with him and got to witness and participate in his development and growth (as we all know, puppies grow so much more rapidly during their first few weeks/months). Just the extra 7 weeks' worth of memories alone would be priceless to me.

One important caveat though -- we didn't have kids to worry about at the time, as it sounds like many of you who have posted, do.

I'm going to go against the grain here by saying that if my wife and I had to choose between bringing Skippy home as we did when he was 8 weeks old, vs 16-20 weeks of age, we would not hesitate to do it all over again. Yes, it was extremely tough and life-changing, especially during the first 3 days, but I'm glad we were there together with him and got to witness and participate in his development and growth (as we all know, puppies grow so much more rapidly during their first few weeks/months). Just the extra 7 weeks' worth of memories alone would be priceless to me.

One important caveat though -- we didn't have kids to worry about at the time, as it sounds like many of you who have posted, do.

Personally I would always choose a puppy all other things being equal. I don't have any kids at home though and I don't find the puppy stage "work" at all. I agree that it is very time consuming and it's exactly like having a toddler in the house (with the exception that you can put pup in a crate and go to the grocery store or have a shower) but for me the time is just plain fun. With young kids around though it's often impossible to devote a set of eyes purely to the pup and sometimes it's just one more drain on a finite resource (your attention).